Goodbye
by Demented Insane Spirit
Summary: Illusionshipping. Mai isn’t ready to say goodbye to Domino City and all the memories. Sometimes the hardest goodbye is not the one expected. She certainly never thought that saying goodbye to Marik would be the hardest step of leaving. One shot.


_Title: Goodbye_

_Rating: T_

_Genre: Drama/Romance_

_Summary: Illusionshipping. Mai isn't ready to say goodbye to Domino City and all the memories. Sometimes the hardest goodbye is not the one expected. She certainly never thought that saying goodbye to Marik would be the hardest step of leaving. One shot._

_Disclaimer: I do not own YuGiOh_

_Notes/Warnings: One shot; illusionshipping_

X

_Goodbye_

There had been other places that Mai Kujaku had been. Different countries, different cities, all of which had different people. For her, it had been easy to pack up, send a flirtatious wink, and head to the next place. She had broken hearts, women who had been her friends for the time she was there, and men who she had casually enjoyed flings with. She never once regretted it. For her, life meant one thing and that was moving on, independently, and never allowing herself to become too attached. It was why she never considered any of the friendships she had real friendships. The only thing holding her to those people was a general interest group.

Domino City, however, was another story.

She tried, unsuccessfully, to not become friends with Yuugi and his friends, but it was hard. They were such a friendly group of people overall and seemed to genuinely want to know what lied behind the Mai that she presented to everyone. It certainly never helped when they continued to run into each other over and over again. It simply was not possible to hate them, although there were times that she thought she really did. Her mistaken attachment caused problems with her initial plan: to stay for a bit, cause some heartbreak, and then disappear.

She was still in Domino, but had finally taken a step towards leaving. It was proving very difficult. She had her most vital things packed, leaving most of the furniture. She fit her bags, suitcases, and boxes in her car and then left it in the parking garage and walked into the more industrial part of Domino. It was a Wednesday, nearly midnight, and so therefore was quiet and without hardly anybody on the sidewalks.

Mai needed that peacefulness to think. Anywhere she looked a memory of her and her friends would rise in her mind and it hurt. She knew that any other person would simply decide to stay if it was such a nuisance to leave. For her, staying in one place meant permanence and that was something that she could not stand thinking about. She used to stay in one place when she lived with her family and it was even worse than moving from city to city. Gossip hit Mai worse in a place where she had to live life day after day with the same people than somewhere that she would simply pass through.

Sighing, she paused to sit at a bench and two guys walked past, making jeering comments. "Go bother someone who gives a damn, you losers," she snapped at them, raising her fist threateningly. They hastened down the sidewalk, taking her gesture quite seriously. She slumped against the bench, closing her eyes briefly to halt the stinging behind her eyes. She was in no mood for cocky men tonight.

A low chuckle came from the side and her eyes flashed open, her lips parting to make another scathing comment, but she halted herself. She had only a few encounters with Marik Ishtar since he had been resurrected, so to speak; however, those that she _did _have had shaken her up. He had an uncanny way of understanding her too well even though she had never said much about herself. In fact, most of their conversations caused her to become overly defensive at his analysis of her. "In a bad mood, my dear?" Marik drawled, his hands casually tucked in the deep pockets of his jeans.

"I don't need your idea of conversation right now," she told him and rose to her feet, passing him. She almost stomped her foot in rage as he simply pivoted on the spot and followed her. Obstinately, she said nothing. It didn't matter anyway. Marik rarely ever needed her to say something to catch on her mood. She hated him for that. In their first meeting since his return, Mai had been somewhat frightened but learned that he was more or less harmless. He had never threatened her, though she smugly noted he tended to scare Jounouchi and Honda with subtle threats. She still was not completely sure why that was.

"Mmm...You're out rather late for someone who works in the morning. It does make a person wonder."

_Well, who is he going to tell? _She thought. _He makes it a point not to associate with Yuugi and the others. _"Hon, I'm leaving tonight. I'm not going to work tomorrow and I'm not going to be here tomorrow." Mai glanced at him, interested in what his response to that would be. He seemed to be mulling it over, his usual, expressionless eyes turned towards her mildly.

"Is that so?" was all he said after a pause. "Any particular reason why?"

"No."

"What of your _friends?_" The way he said the word was condescending. But of course Marik would say it that way. He always did. He hated the idea of friendship as much as she used to; he hated the idea of anything warm, really.

"Sometimes friends can only last for a short time," she curtly answered.

His lips slowly eased up into a taunting smirk. It was unnerving. "How sad. I fear to inform you this, dearest, but you are a terrible liar and we both know it. You don't _want _to leave your friends, yet you seem to be forcing yourself to. Again, I ask whether there is any particular reason. You can't simply want to leave. Human minds aren't quite that erratic."

"I see no reason why it's your business, Marik."

"I'm interested," he said with a shrug of his shoulders.

"In my life?" she skeptically demanded.

"You seem to be under the impression that I have specific interests. It is human life that interests me, not you. Your actions vary while everyone else is boring and predictable. If I were interested in your life, you would see me far more often than you do." He smirked. "I would be your personal stalker. I imagine you to be flattered." She stared at him, a bit horrified at the thought of him lurking around her home and following her everywhere she went. Shaking that thought from her mind, she pushed her hair from her face, sighing as it simply flopped back in place.

"I suppose it doesn't matter since you have no reason to tell Yuugi," she murmured to herself. He gave no sound of agreement or promise that others might have. Marik was a man who said little, but preferred to listen, to observe. She suspected that their duel together had been enough for him to gather enough information to make accurate deductions of her. "I don't stay in one place. I've stayed in Domino for too long and it's time to move on. I don't like getting attached to people, to places. I know that, eventually, it will make me unhappy and I'll get bored and want to leave. It'll be harder then, so it's best I just do it now."

"Comparing one place to another place that causes that is not the most intelligent idea," he remarked, smiling at her in what she supposed was supposed to be a pleasant way.

"I'm not."

"Oh, but you are," he disagreed. "Where were you so unhappy, little Mai? Is that why you never stay in one place?"

"Look, it has nothing to do with one specific place, alright?" Mai said, annoyed with him. "Whenever I get bored of a place, I move on. I never had any real friendships that formed because of huge ordeals like now, so it was easy. I could wait until I get bored now, but I would still have my friends to think about and it's already hard, so I just want to leave and get it over with. It won't hurt nearly as much now as it would later."

Clearly, he had no response to this and they walked in silence for some time. He did not seem defeated, though, or discouraged. It was always so difficult to understand what Marik was thinking or feeling, as his expression was always kept permanently blank unless he wanted someone to know what he was thinking.

"I have to do this," she said to him, half hoping that he might agree with her.

"My dear, you do whatever you think makes your life easier," he told her, flashing a quick smirk. "I prefer a place where I have a home and people that won't ignore my well-meaning threats. If you feel that leaving Domino City will make your life easier, then so be it." He gestured dismissively. He wasn't agreeing with her, nor was he disagreeing. He was simply telling her to do as she wished. She appreciated that and it made her feel a little less guilty, but something was still gnawing at the back of her mind.

She identified it for what it was: loss.

She had already accepted the loss of her friends; now she was realizing that she would lose _Marik_, who she had never really considered a friend. He had definitely pulled her through some of her more morbid musings. He knew how her mind worked, could almost guess what she was thinking or what she would do and it made her appreciate him in a way that she had never appreciated any other person.

Mai understood one other thing and that was that leaving Marik - the only person who had identified her problems in a blunt, neutral manner and understood them – was harder than leaving her friends. It made no sense to her, yet she accepted it.

"Life before having friends was easier," she quietly said. "I didn't have to worry about who I was hurting while hurting myself in the process. It was less painful." He glanced at her. "I already packed all my things and put them in my car. I just need a moment of peace, to sort out my thoughts. I know I have to leave if I want to have future happiness, but..." Mai trailed off. A request was lingering in the back of her head. She would never dare to voice it. Not to Marik, not to anybody. She had more dignity than that.

"Then perhaps I ought to help you, my dear, since clearly you are unable to take the first step yourself," he suggested. It was not a kind, tender suggestion. He said it the same way he said everything. The touch of his hand on her elbow, steering her around so that were moving the way they had come from was not tender, either, being more of a gentle guiding. She felt like a child that was confused, straying from the path home by the lure of candy.

He took the long way home and she forced him to stop many times simply so that she could sit and stare ahead of her. Usually they were places that she had been with Yuugi and the others before. He never sat beside her, standing instead in a lazy manner, leaning his shoulder against a building or a pole, his hands in his pockets. By the time Mai had gotten home, the sky had turned blue with the beginning of dawn. She was still wide awake and from what she could tell, so was Marik.

She walked into the parking garage of the apartment and took her keys out of her jacket, unlocking the door on the driver's side. She opened the door and looked at Marik, who was simply watching her and saying nothing. "Um...I suppose you don't need a ride home?"

"I rather enjoy walking," he replied. "That would distract you from your original purpose. Do you have a map?" She blinked and then opened her glove box and took out her map, handing it to him. He spread the world map out on the hood of the car and randomly placed his finger somewhere, not looking as he did. When he peered down, he said, "It seems the next place you'll be going is Ireland." He folded the map up and handed it to her, commenting, "Hopefully you have the money to get there."

"You're actually _encouraging_ me to leave?"

"You did mention that life was easier. I promote an easy, human life." He gave a slightly insane grin. "I believe you recall how hard things were when I took the hard path of world destruction?" She chuckled, amused in spite of her current predicament.

"Yeah, I remember." She hesitated and then awkwardly said, "Thanks." One of his eyebrows rose. Thankfully, he did not ask what for. She stepped towards the car and then looked back at him. "You know what I've always hated about you, hon?"

"Surprise me," he said.

She smiled and continued, "You're just so damn good looking." She leaned away from her car and brushed a kiss over his mouth. "Goodbye, hon." Mai slipped into the car and shut the door. Marik seemed nonplussed by the kiss, appearing amused more than anything. She was unsurprised by that. After all, he did tell her to surprise him and if there was one thing they were good about when it came to each other, it was surprising each other. She moved the clutch into reverse and pulled back, out of the parking garage and Marik walked leisurely out of it. She flicked her hand in a wave of farewell. He landed one last surprise to her the last time she would see him.

He waved back.

_Finis_

X

DIS: Well...How did this come out? It was inspired by _Here Comes Goodbye _by Rascal Flatts. I do love this couple. It is probably my favorite out of them all. In any case, please leave a review telling me how you liked it. Ciao!


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